This description relates to a three piece mechanical total cervical artificial disc, which includes two spiked cervical plates and a mobile core. The disc may be inserted into the cervical intervertrebral disc space using a novel disc plate insertion gun which performs sequential single plate intervertebral implantation enabling symmetric bi-disc plate alignment for inter plate mobile core placement. This cervical disc design and method of implantation avoid the cumbersome and arduous implantation techniques of many other artificial cervical disc designs improving safety, improving bone-plate insertion/integration, allowing multiple-level disc placement, preserving vertebral body integrity, eliminating the need for excessive disc space distraction, and decreasing procedure length. This description also relates to a modified application of the disc plate inserter design from copending, related applications describing posterior placed total artificial disc (PTTLAD). The modified disc plate inserter allows posterior lumbar sequential placement of two opposing disc plates rather than simultaneous two disc plate placement as outlined in our previous publication. The modified disc plate inserter enables implantation of the PTTLAD into narrower lumbar disc spaces which were not accessible with our previous lumbar disc plate inserter.
Cervical and lumbar discs are entering the clinical neurosurgical and orthopedic markets. The benefits of these artificial discs are well known and have been thoroughly reviewed in our prior and co-pending prosthetic disc patents, including Provisional Application 60/788,720 filed on Apr. 4, 2006, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/019,351, filed on Dec. 23, 2004 and Ser. No. 10/964,633, filed on Oct. 15, 2004, U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/578,319 filed on Jun. 10, 2004, 60/573,346 filed on May 24, 2004, 60/572,468 filed on May 20, 2004, 60/570,837 filed on May 14, 2004, and 60/570,098 filed on May 12, 2004, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/487,415 filed on Jul. 17, 2006, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. In one or more of the foregoing applications, we described four different cervical artificial disc embodiments which expanded in two or three-dimensions. This description presents an evolutionary simplification of these embodiments, e.g., with fewer small parts, which expand in only one dimension, and can be inserted very simply and efficiently. Accordingly, the advanced cervical disc design of the present application is a geometric modification of previous lumbar disc designs in one or more of the above-referenced patents, e.g., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0198089 A1.
The cervical disc design of the present application differs from approaches of the background art which typically describe two-piece designs, e.g., as opposed to the three disc designs of the present application. In the two-piece designs, one piece consists of either an upper or lower cervical disc plate with a central trough to accommodate the opposing disc plate. The other piece, the opposing disc plate, has an incorporated dome shaped immobile core. The immobilized core is stationary and does not move. Semi-constrained artificial motion occurs as a result of the troughed plate movement against and around the immobilized core.
One or more of these designs are described in the following exemplary patent documents, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,477, filed Mar. 4, 1991 (Thierry Mamay), entitled “Prosthesis for intervertebral discs and instruments for implanting it;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,637 (Gill et al.), filed Oct. 22, 1998, entitled “Artificial intervertebral joint permitting translational and rotational motion; U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,785 B1 (Gill et al.) filed on Mar. 24, 2000, entitled “Artificial intervertebral joint permitting translational and rotational motion;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,735 B2 (Bradley J Coates et. al.) filed on Oct. 2, 2002, entitled “Modular intervertebral prosthesis system,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,484 B2 (Zubok et. al.) filed on Mar. 6, 2003, entitled “Cervical disc replacement.” In each of the foregoing two-piece designs of the background art, the artificial implant is implanted within the vertebral bodies either by using attached hinges, keels or some form of extension which accommodates placement of vertebral screws.
The present inventors have determined that one disadvantage of most of these systems is that placement of the prosthesis is arduous, and time consuming, and can destroy a substantial part of the vertebral body after insertion of the device. The designs that use screws have the potential risks of screw pull out and secondarily esophageal injury, screw breakage, and/or inability to perform multilevel disc placement. Furthermore the fact that these designs do not have a mobile core leads to substantially constrained motion.
Similarly, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0173936 A1 (Hester) filed on Jan. 23, 2006, describes a design which includes spikes, also includes a two-piece design with an immobilized core. One or more embodiments of the present application includes a mobile core which more closely simulates natural semi-constrained motion of a healthy cervical disc. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0021146 A1 (de Villiers et al.) filed May 26, 2004 consists of two separate plates placed which are inserted simultaneously as one unit, after which a mobile core is inserted in between the plates. However, the plates include keels which can damage vertebral bodies, and prevent multilevel placement. U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,130 (Bryan), filed Oct. 6, 1997, describes a one piece design. However, the one-piece design involves an arduous placement technique involving disc space distraction, and the use of hinges and screws, limiting multi-level placement.